Halloween Dwellers on the Watershed

A spooky thing happens to our watershed keepers on their way to reservoir patrol.

There are bats in the boathouse—hundreds of them roosting on the rafters. 

The small nocturnal flying mammals—long-time watershed inhabitants—took up residence in the floating building on Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir years ago

They may greet a staff intruder with high-pitched chatter in response to the unwelcome light through the first crack as the door opens.  But otherwise they stay put, except when they fly out to forage just after dusk and again just before dawn.  

Our biologists take occasional surveys to check that no rare or endangered species are mingling with the local Yuma myotis. The rest of the time, the bats are left to do what they do—keep the mosquito population at bay, mate (at this time of year), and produce one offspring per year.  There are no current plans to encourage relocation.

“We work around them,” says watershed keeper supervisor Tina Wuslich.  “It’s their home. We’re just the stewards.”  

Regional Groundwater Project Begins Construction Activities at Treasure Island RV Park Site

Beginning as early as this week, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) Groundwater Storage and Recovery project will begin construction activities. The scope of work includes drilling a new groundwater well that will be 590 feet deep, installing approximately 180 feet of pipeline and building a new well station adjacent to the Treasure Island RV Park in South San Francisco (please reference the map below for the exact location).

24-hour well drilling work will occur continuously for up to

one month inside the blue rectangle pictured above. 

The project anticipates well drilling will begin in October. Once this work begins, it will occur continuously for 24-hours a day for up to one month in duration. To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound curtains with blankets to ensure the levels do not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from homes near the well drilling work.

Questions?
For more information about this project, please call the 24-hour answering service at 866-973-1476, or visit the Project webpage at sfwater.org/GSR.

A Rare Look at Venerable Peninsula Dam

Approximately 50 Filoli Estate members and supporters had a rare look at the base of 127-year-old Lower Crystal Springs Dam and the nearby newly constructed pump house. The site was a featured stop on a special Centennial Tour in celebration of the historic preserve’s 100-year mark. John Fournet, Natural Resources Division community liaison was host and interpreter. 

The 1888 Lower Crystal Springs Dam is the product of our predecessor, the private water utility Spring Valley Water Company. Noted for its gravity-arch design and interlocking concrete block structure—both innovations at the time—the dam withstood the great earthquakes of 1906 and 1989 with no damage. 

The tour ended at Pulgas Water Temple where the group met watershed keeper Jim  Barkenhus for a tour of the temple and channel into Crystal Springs Reservoir.  The popular beaux arts temple is a monument to the birth of the Hetch Hetchy Water System in 1934, when a throng of jubilant San Franciscans gathered near the edge of Crystal Springs Reservoir to witness the sight of the first Sierra waters rushing into the Bay Area.  

Neighboring Filoli Estate is home to a 1915 landmark mansion that was originally the country residence of Spring Valley Water Company board president William Bourn. It was Bourn who commissioned the design of the system’s first beaux art water temple, the 1910 Sunol Water Temple in the East Bay. For Bourn, that kind of majestic classic structure was a fitting tribute to what he saw as the nobility and sheer beauty of Spring Valley’s mission—the supply of clean, plentiful water

. 

Regional Groundwater Project Begins Construction at Orchard Supply & Hardware Site Next Week

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery (GSR) project anticipates starting construction on approximately Monday, September 28. Major construction activities will include drilling a new groundwater well to a depth of 440 feet deep, installing 790 feet of pipeline and building a new well station near the Orchard Hardware & Supply store in Millbrae. Once drilling begins, this activity will last 24-hours a day for up to one month.

24-hour well drilling work will occur continuously

for up to one month inside the blue rectangle pictured above. 

To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure it does not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from homes near well drilling work.

Questions?
For more information about this project, please call the 24-hour answering service at (866) 973-1476, or visit the Project webpage at sfwater.org/GSR.

Construction Notice: Temporary Trail Closure in Junipero Serra Park

What: Temporary Trail closure in Junipero Serra Park east of Crystal Springs Terrace Apartments (2000 Crystal Springs Road, San Bruno) for pipeline work

When: September 21 – 25, 2015, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Why: Crews will remove earth from on top of water pipelines and inspect them in this area

How: Crews will use large earthmoving equipment

What to Expect:

• Temporary trail closure in the area 
• Noise from large equipment, a small amount of dust in the area 
• Water Department crews will be working in the area 

Thank you for your patience!


Contact us by calling our 24-hour Toll-Free line (866) 973-1476 or visiting www.sfwater.org/peninsula

Mobilization & Construction Activities Begin at Lake Merced Golf Club GSR Site

This week, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery (GSR) Project started mobilization and construction activities to prepare for drilling a new groundwater well that will be 620 feet deep at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City (please reference the map on the back for the exact location).

Once well drilling begins, work will occur continuously. To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure the levels do not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from homes near the well drilling work.

24-hour well drilling work at Lake Merced Golf Club anticipates starting 

next week inside the blue rectangle pictured above. 

Once well drilling begins, work will occur continuously for up to one month. To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure the levels do not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from properties near well drilling activities.

For more information about the GSR Project, please be sure to subscribe to this blog, visit sfwater.org/GSR or by calling us at (866) 973-1476.

Heat and High Fire Danger!

You do not need us to tell you that the weather has been unseasonably hot. Daytime temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above seasonal averages throughout the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service.  

Because of the high heat and low moisture, our Natural Resources and Lands Management Division has issued a high fire alert for the Peninsula /Alameda Watershed lands that we own. 

If you are driving in the area, please remember:

• Do not pull your car over to the side of the road in the grass. The heat from the underside of your car could quickly spark a grassfire. This is all too common.
• Please do not smoke, hold lit cigarettes out the window, or dispose of cigarette butts onto the side of the road.
• Please do not operate machinery in dry grasses that might generate sparks, including mowers.

For tips on how to stay safe in this heat, please visit the National Weather Service’s website: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml.

Please stay hydrated and stay cool out there!

Please do not operate machinery that might generate sparks, including mowers.